Forest fires have been raging through the west coast and other areas of the country. Fire fighters from South Dakota are among those battling the flames.
Officials report that 14 fire engines, an interagency helicopter, 9 crews and 89 individual overhead are currently being used on fires outside of South Dakota.
Angie Hinker is the Assistant Center Manager at the Great Plains Interagency Dispatch. She says this is not uncommon for the state.
“This is nothing new for us. We send people all over. In fact, in 2012 when we were so busy, we pretty much had resources from every state in the nation here helping us. So it’s just kind of paying it forward. We help them, they help us—visa versa,” says Hinker.
She says that resources from South Dakota are either requested or volunteered to help fight outside wild fires when the state’s fire season is low.
“We have what’s called a draw down level. And so all of the agencies will look at that and decide what they can send out with also local resources her to do initial attack and fight fire here locally. So not everyone goes at one Some areas have rotations so only certain individuals go and then when they come back other people can go,” Hinker says.
Hinker says the crews are working between 15 and 21 days before getting rotated with another crew.